Clearing house operations remained suspended for day two affecting cheque clearing to the tune of around Rs 40,000 crore, as over 12,000 officers and 35,000 other banking employees boycotted work on strike call given by the United Forum for Bank Union (UFBU).

"Clearing house operations remained suspended even today disrupting financial transactions (cheque clearing) to the tune of around Rs 40,000 crore across the state," said Shankar Patel, the general secretary of State Bank of India Officer Association (SBIOA), Ahmedabad.

Bank unions are demanding an early wage revision for employees, which they say is due from November 2012. They are also opposing banking sector reforms and any plan for merger of banks.

SBI has over 1,100 branches across Gujarat, while 21 other nationalised banks are estimated to have 2,000 odd branches, an official said.

Patel said nearly 12,000 bank officers and 35,000 other banking employees continued to be on strike in Gujarat on day two.

The banks employees staged a demonstration at Dena Bank on Ashram road to protest the economic policies of the government.

However, the ATMs were operating as usual, the official claimed.

Also, around 4,500 employees of LIC across the state continued to be on strike, supporting workers of banking and other public sector industry," said S I Bhatt, the general secretary of LIC employees Union, Gujarat Division.